Speaking Friday to exporting companies at the ExpoComPR Foundation convention, Governor Jenniffer González Colón said Puerto Rico is experiencing its best moment in a decade for investment, citing 1.2 million people in the workforce, the creation of 27,439 corporations in the past year (up 16.9% from the previous year), and investment commitments made over the past year and a half. She declined to take press questions.
Her remarks came as the island remains under a state of emergency due to extreme drought, with about seven metro-area municipalities under water rationing for the past 14 days, and as the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (AEE) this week canceled a multimillion-dollar contract with Power Expectations that had promised 400 megawatts of temporary emergency power. González Colón made no mention of the water crisis or an updated plan for electric stability after the contract's termination.
Promised reforms to the tax and permitting systems also remain unapproved; regarding permitting legislation introduced earlier this year, she said she expects the Legislative Assembly to approve the measures between this month and next, describing a plan to consolidate permits, tourism, and manufacturing under one agency, one law, and one regulation.